Phase One and Alpa once again joinced forced and launched the A-series IQ3 100MP System. This is the world’s first 100+ megapixel mirrorless camera. Prepare to spend $50,000 to get both, the Alpa camera and the Phase One back!

Full details at phaseone.com/en/Products/A-Series/Introduction.aspx

Sony guys! You got your new toys and prepare to spend quite some money for those! On February 10 you can start to preorder the following new Sony stuff:
A6300 at BHphoto.
24-70mm f/2.8 GM FE at BHphoto.
70-200mm f/2.8 GM FE at BHphoto.
85mm f/1.4 GM FE at BHphoto.
FE 1.4x Teleconverter at BHphoto.
FE 2.0x Teleconverter BHphoto.

Sony responded to the huge request of new f/2.8 zoom and a fast portrait prime. But as usual this doesn’t come cheap. In the meantime check out the full press text here:

The Japanese group CIPA published the full 2015 camera shipment report. The data are based on the world-wide shipment units collected from all Japanese manufacturers. So here are the findings:

Overall camera unit shipment (Graph above):
It shows the overall camera shipments measured in units. This includes fixed lens and system cameras (both DSLR and Mirroless). There were 35% less cameras shipped compared to 2014.

Overall system camera (DSLR+Mirrorless) unit shipment (Graph below):
Compared to 2014 companies shipped -12% cameras.

So as you see it’s the fixed lens camera marked suffering the bigger loss. Moreover the 12% decrease is also caused by the new companies strategic which focuses on premium cameras with higher profit margin.

The interesting note is that Mirrorless system cameras sold as good as in 2014. It’s basically the only camera segment not having lost terrain in 2015!

CanonWatch spotted and interesting interview made by Asciijp with Canon manager Yagi Koichi:

Canon Marketing Japan Imaging System Company, president Yagi Koichi Managing Executive Officer [says] “in the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2015, we have been able to ship a lot of mirror-less […] cameras, [but we are] not yet satisfied […]. At present [we are working on] new products, but [we can not] mention, the third quarter in 2016, towards the fourth quarter and that the mirror-less market is forecast to grow, Canon’s share of the mirror-less camera market [in the last] two years ago [was] the 4. position, we want to aim at the 3. position [intended as ranking, editor’s note]. By all means [we want to get the] second place this year […]. And, because second place [is the] middle of the goal, [as] soon as possible [we] want to take the seat of the number one[…].

Within the interview Canon makes it clear:

1. They want to focus on the mirrorless system camera development
2. They hint more “premium” (FF?) mirrorless system cameras could come in late 2016
3. They want to become the second player on the market (behind Sony). This would mean surpass MFT and Fuji within 2016.

I am not sure what Canon’s plan is. The EOS-M system has basically ZERO lens development. So if they are going FF will they abandon APS-C lens development just like Sony did?

Understanding DSLR vs. Mirrorless Cameras (Sony)

X-Pro2 sample-round-up with Acros-photos on Flickr.
The Ultimate Guide to Lomography at Explora
d-pixx.de posted a pen-f review and 16 full-size pictures.
The Olympus PEN-F Review at Atmtxphoto.
Is it Time to go Full Frame? Weight These Pros and Cons Before You Decide (Digital-photography-school)
Frozen Landscape Photography with Sony a7ii (SonyAlphaForum).
Hands-On Review: The Sony FS7 and Sony’s FE PZ 28-135mm Variable Speed Zoom Lens (Explora).
Interchangeable Lenses versus Built-in Zoom: What Filmmakers need to Know (Explora).
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100: Product Overview with Marcin Lewandowski (Adorama Learning Center).
The Olympus Pen D3 – emulsive half-baked half-frame tour begins (35mmc).

BCNranking posted the full detailed Japanese market share info based on the 2015 sales. Here are the top three of each category with comparison with last years share:

DSLR cameras:
Canon 56.2% (54,7% in 2014)
Nikon 36.7% (39,1% in 2014)
Ricoh 6.7% (4,5% in 2014)

Mirrorless cameras:
Olympus 34.5% (22,3% in 2014)
Sony 24.8% (34,3% in 2014)
Canon 13.6% (no info on 2014. Last year Panasonic was third with 11,9%)

Fixed lens cameras:
Canon 30.5% (28,7% in 2014)
Nikon 21.0% (15,3% in 2014)
Casio 14.8% (15,2% in 2014)

Lens sales:
Canon 24.1% (21,2% in 2014)
Nikon 15.2% (15,3% in 2014)
Sigma 13.5% (13,3% in 2014)

What’s interesting from a mirrorless point of view:
Olympus made a huge jump forward and Sony a huge jump backwards in 2015. This is really surprising!
And Panasonic “lost” the third place to Canon despite Canon certainly not having “pushed” the mirrorless system so far (just look at the poor lens line up).

What are your thoughts on those trends?

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Thansk rrccad for the info.